Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency & IMG Artists Join Forces

NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency Inc. and IMG Artists, are joining forces to expand the artistic platforms of leading performing artists, film and television composers, and music producers. The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency, Inc., is a leading music agency for film and television; IMG Artists is a global leader in performing arts management and booking. The two companies will exclusively offer their distinguished rosters of clients the ability to explore additional avenues of artistic expression and collaboration, including film, television and multi-media live events.

Michael Gorfaine and Samuel Schwartz, partners and co-owners of The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency, Inc.; Jeff Fuhrman, president and COO of IMG Artists; and Elizabeth Sobol, IMG Artists’ senior vice president and associate director, will oversee the joint venture. Gorfaine/Schwartz represents composers, songwriters and music supervisors and producers including John Williams, Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, Ennio Morricone, Thomas Newman, James Horner, Mike Post, James Taylor, Randy Newman, Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard. IMG Artists represents Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, The Bolshoi Ballet, Renée Fleming, The Joffrey Ballet, Anna Netrebko, Sir James Galway and Pilobolus.

The idea for the collaboration was first seeded during production of the award-winning film The Red Violin. Gorfaine/Schwartz represents John Corigliano, who composed the Academy-Award winning score, and IMG Artists’ Sobol manages violinist, Bell, who worked for more than two years as artistic advisor and soloist on the score. The tremendous success of the movie’s Oscar-winning soundtrack was the catalyst for a closer working relationship between the two companies and ultimately led to the formation of the new venture in order to create additional opportunities for their artists.

“Both of our companies have been in business for more than two decades. In our own 25 years in business, we have never done anything like this," said Schwartz. "There is no other company like IMG Artists, and that is why we are moving forward. It is a perfect fit."

“Our admiration and respect for Gorfaine/Schwartz and our excitement about the possibilities of what we can achieve together is unbridled,” said Fuhrman.

“In the rapidly evolving world of performing arts, this partnership allows us to go outside the traditional roles that management and booking agencies usually play," said Sobol. "Through the avenues of Gorfaine/Schwartz, our clients will have opportunities in the film and television world, while IMG Artists can offer Gorfaine/Schwartz’ clients access to the global arena for live events. And more importantly, the venture will provide a platform for artistic collaborations between composers, performing artists, producers and other creative artists. No other performing arts management company can offer such broad opportunities for its artists."

“Additionally,” added Gorfaine, “IMG Artists’ global presence will allow our clients new channels of distribution to present their works to live global audiences in innovative ways. Furthermore, working together we can now present this unparalleled set of services to an even broader array of prospective clients.”

Gorfaine/Schwartz and IMG are already collaborating on the following projects:

**Dave Stewart Songbook – The partnership will handle the international tour for the Dave Stewart Songbook, which premieres at London’s Tower Music Festival on July 14. DStewart, joined by a group of musicians and a 30 piece orchestra, will perform and showcase some of his catalogue of work, including many of the hits he wrote with Annie Lennox (his longtime partner in Eurythmics), as well as those pieces co-written or recorded with Mick Jagger, Gwen Stefani, Bono, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, Dr. Dre, Timbaland, The Neptunes, Beyonce, George Harrison and Joss Stone.

**Not the Messiah – The partnership is handling the international tour of Not the Messiah, an oratorio, in which the story of the Messiah is given a Monty Python treatment. The spectacle by Eric Idle and John Du Prez of “Spamalot” fame is complete with an orchestra, chorus, vocal soloists and bagpipes with Idle and Du Prez performing – and unfurls in Toronto, with the Toronto Symphony, June 1-2 and June 4.

**August Rush – The partnership is working with Warner Bros. on concert presentations based on the movie August Rush, scheduled to be released on October 19. The film celebrates the power of music and features John Legend, Robin Williams, Chris Botti, Hans Zimmer, Mark Mancina and John Ondrassik.

The partnership is developing a number of soundtrack opportunities for performing artists as well as creating recording projects which are collaborations between preeminent film composers and instrumentalists.

“The whole landscape of performing arts has changed radically over the last decade; it is a terrain now profoundly marked by porous borders," said Sobol. "Much of the most interesting and compelling work is being done by artists who seek collaboration and who cross boundaries. The creation of this new venture is our response to those changes, it will be a place to nurture and cultivate artists whose artistic vision reaches beyond the normal limits of their genres.”
–Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen

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